Newly released text messages show that top U.S. public health officials engaged in detailed discussions regarding a lack of clinical data and potential theoretical risks of COVID-19 vaccination during early pregnancy in January 2021, months before federal agencies issued formal guidance recommending the shots for pregnant individuals.
The four pages of text exchanges, authorized for public release by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, involve Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Rochelle Walensky, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General.
According to Johnson’s office, the documents are part of a broader collection of 34,000 text messages and 522 voicemails obtained from Fauci’s phone.
The exchange began on January 25, 2021, when Murthy reached out to Fauci and Walensky to ask if there was any data or theoretical reason to prefer vaccinating early versus late in pregnancy, noting he had been telling pregnant women that no concerning adverse outcomes had appeared in trials, though pregnant participants were limited.
Walensky responded that the situation was largely “a data free” environment, explaining that the CDC had recently set up a V-safe pregnancy registry to track outcomes, which at the time had enrolled over 15,000 pregnant women.
Fauci agreed with Walensky’s assessment regarding the absence of data showing a preference for early versus late vaccination. He noted a public misperception that mRNA vaccines could alter genetic material, adding that “when the misperception gets extended to an early developing fetus, the anxiety heightens.”
In a subsequent message sent later that afternoon, Fauci raised a potential physiological factor, writing, “I asked around a bit more and another issue came up that you need to be aware of. Since many people have significant cytokines storm and fever after the 2nd dose, this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
Walensky replied, “Definitely a good point, esp after dose two.” Murthy also acknowledged the observation, calling it a “really good point re the cytokine storm post second dose” while noting he had also heard public concerns regarding fetal mutations.
The following day, January 26, 2021, Murthy alerted the group to a World Health Organization feature story advising against the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women due to a lack of data. Murthy expressed concern that the WHO’s statement could be “potentially quite damaging to public confidence among pregnant women.”
Fauci advised responding by pointing out that while clinical trials excluded pregnant women, post-authorization data from over 10,000 vaccinated pregnant women had raised no safety flags. He added that animal toxicity studies showed no red flags, and that regulatory and advisory bodies like the FDA, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) permitted pregnant women to make an informed choice. Fauci emphasized weighing potential vaccine risks against the known risks of severe COVID-19 infection during pregnancy.
Walensky closed the thread by offering to flag the WHO recommendation during an upcoming ACIP meeting scheduled for the following day.
The text release comes as congressional panels continue reviewing federal decision-making, internal communications, and public guidance timelines during the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
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